Overview of Kanji Tattoos

Kanji tattoos are very popular tattoo styles today that have their basis in Japanese writing and calligraphy. The actual writing style is called Kanji and it has as long a history as does the history of Japanese tattoo artistry itself. The origin of Japanese Kanji writing begins in China. Thousands of years ago, the Japanese had no formal writing system and they adopted the system used in China at the time.(Takase, 2005) To make it their own system, they began to modify it. The system became known as Kana which resulted in a combination of two different Japanese alphabets. These two alphabets are syllabic and are called hiragana and katakana. The third “alphabet” is called Kanji and it is based on ideograms which actually represent ideas. (Jennings, 1999)

The characters of Kanji can stand alone and have their very own distinct meaning or be used in combination with other symbols to illicit other meanings. Many times the message from a Kanji symbol is not obvious and can be misconstrued by someone who is not familiar enough with the language. (japanese-name-translation.com, 2009) The symbols from Kanji are like looking at a picture, and, just like people see different things in a picture, a Kanji symbol can be interpreted in different ways. Sometimes the symbol will stand for a sound, depending on how and where it is written. (japanese-name-translation.com, 2009) So, basically, it can be very difficult to transfer something you want to say in English directly into a Kanji tattoo. For instance, you want your new Kanji tattoo to say “Big Daddy”. Everybody you know sees your tattoo and asks you what does it mean? You reply “Big Daddy” and you will get a laugh or agreement depending on how well they know you. Then, of course, you go to Japan or you meet someone from Japan and they read your tattoo and to them it says “large father”. It just will not translate the way you want it to. (japanese-name-translation.com, 2009)

This is basically the biggest problem for people that want to get a Kanji tattoo. The Kanji characters themselves are refined and exotic but there are very many ways to pronounce and interpret each unique character. There is also the fact that there are almost two thousand different Kanji characters used today which can make translations very difficult.(Mcbennet, 1999)

Some people believe that the characters have a spiritual meaning – that they can even effect your mood or bring you luck. There are characters often used to symbolize things like strength, luck, honor, etc. (Takase, 2005) Make sure that you have the right characters when deciding to have a Kanji tattoo because as we all know that they are permanent. It can be very frustrating when you end up with a Kanji tattoo that does not contain the message you wanted to convey.

It is not easy to translate Japanese symbols directly from English into Kanji. Even though many people know that the Kanji figures are hard to translate, they still continue to get the tattoo, finding out later it does not have the meaning that they intended. When deciding what tattoo to get, it might be more accurate to use Kanji symbols that have an established meaning like love or dragons or Bishidou (the way of the warrior). Trying to have your name spelled is probably not going to be as accurate as you would like and it might have more of a meaning than you bargained for. (japanese-name-translation.com, 2009)

Getting a tattoo is about expressing yourself. The creation of your Kanji tattoo should be a meeting of the minds between you and the artist who is inking your tattoo. Japanese Calligraphy needs exact translations and if you have some reservations before getting started, be sure to start with an artist who has a reputable catalog. This will require some research on your part. Ask the artist where they got their translations and find out when and where the translations were done as well as who was the translator. Look for comments or references that are available about the artist. Often, the tattoo artist might be insulted or give you a hard time for questioning them, but it is your body and your tattoo so BE SURE. When you find the artist who is willing to help you, and they have helped you understand the symbols you want, then you have probably found the right place to get your tattoo inked.

Works Cited

‘japanese-name-translation.com’, I. S. (2009). INT.COM. Retrieved November 11, 2009, from Japanese Caliigraphy: japanese-name-translation.com/site2/kanji_tattoos_article.html

Jennings, C. (1999, September). The Kanji Site. Retrieved November 11, 2009, from The Kanji Site: kanjisite.com/html/about/site.html

Mcbennet, M. (1999). Kanji Characters. Retrieved November 11, 2009, from Japan Zone: japan-zone.com/new/kanji.shtml

Takase, E. (2005). Takase.com. Retrieved november 11, 2009, from Custom Japanese Caliigraphy: takase.com/AboutUs.htm